examiNation Baltimore: What benefits are you reaping by living in the nation's wealthiest state?

Ever notice that the only thing that gets done quickly in Annapolis is raising taxes and fees? Everything else takes forever. As for the question, I am taking my solid upper-middle class income and getting out of here!

Where is the money going to? Maybe Sheila Dixon is giving it all away in no-bid contracts to her friends or families. Regretably, I don't happen to be either :-(

The Md stae goverment is reaping all of the benefits at the tax payers expense .Think about it .

I have no idea. All of my money goes to taxes, insurance, BGE, and to support an immoral drug war.

lol well a majority voted for this..so all is well in the socalist state of Md.Dont worry the bar is gonna be lowered...big time

i get have my pants taxed off of me so jim smith, yo'malley, busch and miller and the democratic general assembly can give it to friends, family and those who do not want to earn a living. the sooner i leave this state the better.

There are no benefits living in Baltimore in this State. Working class can't send their kids to the public schools but are paying high taxes for them. Houses are expensive and yet no neighbohood is immune to the crime problem. I know of no person who isn't struggling in this city. If the state of Baltimore is what wealth provides, then money isn't everything.

We should be one of the richest states because we have :higher taxes ; higher fees ; higher mortgage closing costs ;well taken care of Poor ;higher gas taxes. higher many things. too many to name!

Where else can you live where murders, muggings, filth, rats, noise, home-invasions, high taxes, terrible schools, and gridlocked highways are so easily and readily available?

I'm not receiving no bennefits from the wealthest state in the nation.

I recently moved from Montgomery Co. to Baltimore, the difference is mind-boggling, hard to put into words. Lot's of potential but almost third world in some areas, despite the high taxes. If MD is the wealthiest state in the Union, then God help us all.

I know the money is there, I just wish I could touch some of it.

With the federal government being headquartered in wash dc, that is probably the main source of income. Lets hope that the fed gets bigger and less efficient to keep our #1 rating.

I appreciate that the wealthier counties have funds for their public schools, but how about spreading more of that wealth to state universities. I don't mean to expand them, but rather make them less costly for state residents. It occurs to me that this is our best strategy for keeping the household income high in our state. We need a well educated work force to supply high tech/high pay industries and services. Lower college education costs for state residents will cause every county, not just the wealthiest to improve in household wealth. We better not gloat about today and forget tomorrow.

Benefits? A boy for governor, high income taxes, congested roadways, some awful public schools, and an idiotic general assembly. Other than that, Maryland's great!

Wealth is more than money. Quality of life is very important. When you consider the crime, congestion, high taxes and cost of living I think Maryland, particularly Baltimore, is a very poor place to live.

I know that Maryland's legislature will try to tax any idea that comes across the minds of some of people in the legislature. A variety taxes are high in Maryland. Many of Baltimore City's residents' are living in poor conditions and lack the education and skills to qualify for decent paying jobs and affordable housing. The statement that this is the wealthiest state may be based on the a hand full of families that have old wealth in the city and in the counties. The state's location is next to the District, so that is probably why housing, jobs, and best shopping, leisure and recreation are plentiful here in Maryland. I feel that the State has a lot of issues to clear up such as the killings and gang activities. To that end, I would think that possibly New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and West Virginia could be one of the wealthiest states, because of all of Maryland residents going to either of those state to gamble. Who are reaping all of the benefits, not Maryland reside

There are clearly benefits to living in an area of wealth. Your article mentioned the benefits of providing a quality education. This is perhaps the greatest benefit of area-wide prosperity. However I noted in your statistics that Baltimore City and Baltimore County (where I reside) are some of the lower income counties. It occurs to me that at one time, Baltimore City must have posessed the highest or close to the highest household income in the state. The more important question should be - why was that status not maintained? If this is not answered, can we keep other counties in this state at the top? Please allow me to add one more question. Can Baltimore City every get to the top again or at least move significantly upward? Perhaps this is a more important question for our Mayoral candidates to answer than how will you make neighborhoods safe or educate our children. Maybe our leaders need to rediscover the law of "sowing and reaping."

There is the wealthy elite class in Maryland, and then there is the rest of us. The rising cost of health insurance alone for our family has negated our wage raises every year. We will struggle to send our kids to college, although we tried to plan and opened an account which tanked with the stock market and never fully recovered. Meanwhile, we work our butts off while even illegal immigrants are treated better by the state than we are. Some would give them in-state college tuition. No wonder - the tuition is so ridiculous here we have no choice but to go out of state.

o'mallyy will pass a law for anyone who leaves the state of maryland will continue to pay md. state taxes for not less then 10 years.

I am taking my money and getting out of here before O'Malley takes it all.